The Bell To Bell News Report 05.19.11

Hey hey wrestling fans! I’m Randy Harrison, this is the Bell to Bell News Report and it’s time to rock!

Before we get started this week, I wanted to take a moment to address the criticisms that were leveled at me in the comments section and e-mails regarding my comments on Kurt Angle being one of the only wrestlers worth a damn in TNA. I took a lot of flack for that statement with most of the comments suggesting that I was overlooking guys like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Mr. Anderson and the like. I took in all of the criticism and while I understand where it came from, I still stick by my statement. If there’s any need for clarification, I will say that in saying that about Angle, he is one of the only guys, if not the only guy on the roster, that can virtually guarantee a good match just from his inclusion in it. Sure, he’s had a few stinkers here and there in his time in TNA, but he has been their most consistent in-ring performer since he’s arrived in the company, bar none. He’s been able to have great matches with virtually everyone on the roster, which is something that not a lot of TNA’s roster can boast.

While matches featuring the rest of the people the commenters named can often be bogged down by bad booking, bad matchmaking or other issues, Angle pushes all of those aside and puts on the best damn match of the card virtually every week and every pay-per-view. In my opinion, that puts Angle a cut above the rest of the guys that were named and solidifies how I feel about him being one of the only TNA stars that would be worth a damn to the WWE.

With that out of the way, there’s still plenty to get to this week as the WWE introduced a new plan to have all of their wrestlers insured, Desmond Wolfe returned to TNA (kinda), HHH may be set for a return to action in the summer and D’Angelo Dinero raised a hell of a stink on Twitter. Plenty to get to, plenty to talk about, so let’s kick it off….

You know the drill…

Ding Ding….

— Huge news from the WWE that broke just hours before the column went live as the company is now requiring all talent to personally purchase and maintain medical insurance as part of their talent contracts. While the “independent contractor” stance that the WWE has clung to for the past decade or so does not require them to pay for the insurance, it will also allow the wrestlers to write off the cost of their insurance as a business expense when tax season rolls around. The need for wrestlers to have some type of medical insurance has been one of the biggest arguments that detractors of the business have had in the wake of the deaths of stars like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and with this announcement, the WWE has begun to turn that tide while also taking steps to keep their employees safer and healthier over the length of their careers.

When it was announced earlier this month that the UFC was extending medical insurance to all of its fighters on their promotional roster, it was inevitable for people to begin to bring up the WWE and their lack of accountability on the issue of insuring their talent. The “independent contractor” phrase has been one that has been hotly debated and contested by former wrestlers, pundits and fans and has been one of the biggest issues that people attacking the business have used to further their arguments. While many will likely take this as the WWE scrambling to try to respond to the UFC’s efforts to avoid taking a PR black eye, it appears that the WWE’s initiative was introduced to the talent before the UFC went public with their insurance plans, which is nice. While I don’t necessarily care how it comes about, I have to admit that it’s good to know that it was already in the plans for the WWE looking back and that it was not just a snap judgment to try to respond to what another company had done.

While it would be great to have the WWE offering an insurance plan in a similar manner to their talent much like any other billion dollar company would, this is a huge step in the right direction. One of the things that was the most talked about in recent years after the Eddie Guerrero tragedy was the need for drug testing that eventually became the WWE’s Wellness Policy, but trailing right behind it was the need for there to be some sort of medical insurance for the wrestlers. There is no word on whether there are specific terms to the insurance that the talent will have to follow or if they are open to choose whatever policy they feel best fits their needs, but one would imagine that there are at least policy guidelines that the WWE is hoping that the talent follow to make sure that they have the best coverage to suit their needs while not breaking the bank.

One of the biggest benefits that I can see coming about from this announcement from the get-go is that with proper medical insurance, wrestlers may, and I stress may be less likely to take the painkiller route to simply “dull” an injury and may actually take the time to get checked out and have it treated properly. There’s no way to say that it will 100% solve the problem or even 25% solve the problem, but it could be the second step in conjunction with the Wellness Policy. If I had the choice between paying an arm and a leg to see a doctor as an uninsured patient or hitting up a walk-in clinic for a prescription at a much, MUCH lower cost, especially while I am responsible for 250 days worth of travel expenses out of my salary that is already cut by 30% or so by taxes, I think that the choice is obvious. I’m not saying that that’s how wrestlers end up hooked on painkillers as everyone has their own threshold for addiction, but if this keeps even one guy from taking the cheaper option and allows him to avoid having to rely on pills to heal an injury rather than all of the other treatments that modern medicine allows, it will be well worth it in my eyes.

The fact of how dangerous wrestling is has been driven home numerous times this year, most recently with the neck injury that forced Edge into retirement and having the WWE take this step is huge for not only the company but the wrestlers that work for them. As I said earlier, this may not be the absolute best solution for the talent as that would be having the WWE picking up the bill, but this is pretty darn close and it’s nice to be able to report on a story like this without there needing to be a huge tragedy that preceded it. Good on the WWE for setting this program up and here’s to hoping that it’s just another step towards eliminating the stigma that is always associated with wrestling due to the (previously accurate) conception that the company does not care abotut the health of their employees.

— TNA Sacrifice took place this past Sunday in the Impact Zone in Orlando and here’s some of my thoughts from the show.

In the main event, Sting retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Rob Van Dam following the Scorpion Death Drop. I have to say that this was MILES better than the stinker that these two had last year at Slammiversary and was actually a decent little bout to finish the show. Given that it was just over twelve minutes and was fairly basic, I don’t think it was quite worthy of the “This is awesome” chants that the Impact Zone trolls were lavishing on it, but it was alright for what it was. My biggest problem coming out of all of this is that for a company that is pushing itself as making Wrestling Matter, having a guy that is over 50 holding your biggest title makes it a bit of a non-starter.

Don’t get me wrong, I commend Sting for being able to even get into the ring at his age and put on decent matces, but his time as a top player in the company should be over and probably should have been over quite some time ago. I’m not suggesting that TNA needs to go full-on workrate and have a guy holding the title that’s going to have 40 minute matches every time out, but putting the belt on someone with the physical limitations that Sting has at this point paints the entire main event scene into a corner. Hopefully with this rebranding of the company’s TV, they take the opportunity to take the title off of Sting and put it onto someone who is more capable of carrying a full-time load, while allowing Sting to remain a special attraction in much the same way that The Undertaker has spent the past couple of years in the WWE.

The mixed tag with the Jarrett Family Values Tour taking on Angle and Chyna was..uh….interesting? After spending a ton of time on the time-honored Memphis tradition of stalling, the match itself was rather pedestrian and not really worth all of the build-up that it was given. Chyna was the biggest reason why this one had the interest that it did, but given that she hasn’t been an active competitor in nearly a decade, they had to keep her time in the ring short, so it ultimately ended up being more about the stalling than anything else. Hopefully we’re getting close to the end of this thing as even the Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler storyline thinks this one has run its course, but I fear that with the introduction of Chyna (even with the face team picking up the clean win) that this could end up being drawn out for another month or two.

Moving on to the hardcore bout with Tommy Dreamer and AJ Styles, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised as they made it a very watchable affair including Tommy going all ghetto fork on AJ before the run-in by Bully Ray. While I’m usually not the biggest fan of the run-in finish, it actually fit this one pretty well as it was hardcore to begin with so it allowed for it, and it also made it plausible for a guy that is past his prime like Tommy to get the one-up on a guy like AJ, who is still in the best days of his career. The angle where Tommy is reluctantly doing Bully Ray’s bidding has been interesting so far and it will be fun to see if it ultimately leads to Tommy and AJ teaming to rid themselves of the scourge that is Fortune.

The rest of the show was just kind of there for me with nothing really standing out too much outside of Brian Kendrick’s outlandishly crazy promo and Chris Harris’s return to TNA in somewhat less than stellar shape. I’ve spoken a few times about how most of TNA’s pay-per-views seem to feel interchangeable and that was a perfect way to describe the undercard as it was just kind of guys having matches to me. Yes, they’re moving the angles forward, but it could have been pretty much anyone in the ring in any of the matches and it would have felt the same. That’s not to say that any of it was bad as it was all average to good with the X-Division Title match being the highlight, it’s just that it was all so forgettable. I mean, is anyone really going to remember that Mexican America beat Ink Inc. in the opener in two months time? If they want us to care about TNA, they need to make us care about the matches that are happening, no matter where they are on the card, a problem that is starting to crop up in the WWE as well.

— Interesting to me was a report this week that stated that hot on the heels of Michael Hayes accompanying Tyson Kidd on the most recent edition of Superstars, the WWE is apparently looking to have managers play more of a role in the product, which is a marked change from the past fifteen years or so where the focus has been more on eye candy from valets rather than managers getting dirty in the trenches. Considering all of the top flight wrestling talent that cut promos as though they’re getting wisdom teeth removed, I’m all for having more of the future generation of stars spending some time under the tutelage of former legends. There is word that Arn Anderson is under serious consideration to become a manager for someone, which would be pretty much the best thing to happen ever. Anderson was one of the best promo guys around during the boom years of the NWA and if he could take that ability and pair it with someone who is great in the ring but floundering on the mic, it could be the beginning of something big, depending on who it is. I’ve been a huge fan of managers all the way back to guys like The Grand Wizard, Jimmy Hart and the legendary Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, so count me in for the manager revival, so long as it gets guys like Anderson in front of the microphone again.

— There’s some news coming out of the most recent batch of Impact Wrestling tapings, but since the shows are a couple of weeks away from airing that means it’s time for a….

SPOILER ALERT!!

After years of being TNA’s afterthought program, it appears as though the company is beginning to take a bit of a different stance with TNA Xplosion as the promotion has announced a new concept for the show. In an attempt to make the show a bit more relevant, a tournament will be started to crown an “Xplosion Champion”, who will be able to move on and challenge for any championship on Impact Wrestling. There is no word on a tournament format or how many wrestlers will be competing, but it looks as though it will be a tournament that will go on for at least the next month or two. I have to admit that this is actually a really good idea and could be a lot of fun, provided that they provide updates on Impact for the majority of fans who are unable to get Xplosion in their area. The whole thing has the feel of a Money in the Bank kind of idea where it could be used to elevate talent into the main event scene, which would be a great way to give some of the stars like D’Angelo Dinero and Matt Morgan a real reason to be in the main event instead of just having them randomly dropped in. Hopefully if this tournament works out, TNA will continue on with the idea as I really think it’s one of the better things they’ve come up with in quite some time.

END SPOILER ALERT!!!

— Continuing on with TNA news, despite not being cleared to return to in-ring action, Desmond Wolfe is back involved with the company as he was announced as the Commissioner of TNA Xplosion during this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings. Wolfe has been sidelined for the past nine months with a still undisclosed injury and has not been seen on TNA TV minus a short cameo appearance last December with a tease on a possible return. Adding Wolfe on in this role is a smart move for TNA as they add yet another reason for Xplosion to actually be relevant, while bringing in an international authority figure for their internationally syndicated TV property. Wolfe has always been able to cut solid promos and should be able to bring a lot to Xplosion with his mic work alone. When you add that to the previous news, there seems to be a lot of work being put into Xplosion as of late, which could be a sign that the show may be receiving more focus from TNA soon. Of course, the fact that Wolfe has been slotted into this role means that his in-ring return is still a question mark, which is sad. I love his work in the ring and not being able to see him perform is a real shame. There were questions surrounding Wolfe and his failure of a physical back when he nearly signed with the WWE and it may be a situation where Wolfe’s body just can’t take the physical nature of being in the ring anymore, in which case this new role is perfect for him. Best of luck to Wolfe with his new title and hopefully he finds as much success with it as he has during his time in the squared circle.

— Even more out of Orlando as this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings made the name change official with a new set design for the Impact Zone, which you can see above. It looks as though they’ve given the show more of a Smackdown-y feel with all the blue, but I have to say that it’s a big improvement over what it used to be. In my opinion the whole original iMPACT! thing was kind of lame and reeked of someone trying to be clever and cute with a marketing pitch. While the whole idea of “Impact Wrestling” is still based on a marketing pitch of Wrestling Matters, it feels a lot less forced and is more of a no-frills kind of approach, which is nice to see in wrestling these days. Of course, it’s not exactly something that’s going to set ratings on fire or drive the company to some new level of success on its own, but if TNA continues to do small things like this correctly, it could start adding up to some bigger things for the future.

— After not having been seen since putting on a hell of a performance against The Undertaker at WrestleMania, it looks as though the stage may be set for yet another return for Triple H as he is being advertised as appearing at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event set for July 17th at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. HHH’s name was included in the list of talent that was sent out in an e-mail promoting the event, the first indication that he may be ready to step back into the ring after wrestling just a handful of times since February of 2010. Now this isn’t any kind of confirmation that the H’s will definitely return as e-mails of this nature are sometimes put together with information that is seriously out of date, but there is a possibility that he could make his return as it has been rumored that he is looking to have one more run before leaving his in-ring career behind to move on as a high-level executive in the offices of the WWE. Look for more information to come out about the possible return soon if there is any truth to the rumor and continue to check out the Bell to Bell for the latest updates on whether we’ll see HHH back in a WWE ring sometime soon.

— The brackets for the eight-man, single elimination tournament to determine the best style of wrestling have been released for the upcoming EVOLVE: Style Battle iPPV show on May 20th in Union City, NJ and here’s the line-up;

Bracket A:
1) Rich Swann (Rich Swann Style) vs. AR Fox (High-Flying)
2) Tony Nese (Standing Combat) vs. Jon Davis (Power)
Semifinal: Match #1 winner vs. match #2 winner

Bracket B:
3) Brodie Lee (Super Heavyweight) vs. Sami Callihan (Hard-Hitting)
4) Austin Aries (Hybrid) vs. Bobby Fish (Puroresu Jr. Heavyweight)
Semifinal: Match #3 winner vs. match #4 winner

Seeing the brackets, Aries vs. Fish has the feel of a Hulk vs. Andre WrestleMania IV kind of thing where they stick two of the favorites together in an opening round match to guarantee some quality wrestling that might not happen in the later rounds if either man stumbles. I still feel like Aries will come out of this as the winner, but I could just as easily see him making it to the finals and someone like Rich Swann winning the whole thing to get a big rub. Aries is one of the biggest names in independent wrestling and that can be used to launch a new star for a fledgling promotion like EVOLVE. Aries is smart enough to see that there needs to be a new generation, so this one looks like it’s going to be up for grabs. Check out the EVOLVE website for more on ticketing information if you’re in the area and be sure to check out The 411 Wrestling Podcast’s interview with the man behind EVOLVE, Gabe Sapolsky, which was a very interesting listen.

— The October WWE PPV show set for San Antonio, TX, formerly known as Bragging Rights, will now be known as WWE Uprising according to various reports this week. As of late, the WWE has seemed to prefer moving towards non-descript generic pay-per-view names and I don’t really understand why. One of the things that WWE had over TNA in spades when it came to marketing their pay-per-view shows is that there was name recognition. When you saw Bragging Rights, you knew what you would be getting, when you see Money in the Bank, you know what you’ll be getting, when you saw Night of Champions, you knew what yo….ok that’s not the best example I’ll admit. The point to all of this is that the company has PPV names that make it fairly easy to figure out what you might see on the show while making each show feel different. Now, they’re moving into TNA territory where Sacrifice feels the same as Final Resolution, which feels the same as Against All Odds and so on. That’s not even getting into the WWE killing the Bragging Rights concept, which was actually one of the more fun things they’ve done with the brand extension in the past few years. WWE’s PPV shows are feeling less and less like “can’t miss shows” and more and more like episodes of Raw with more actual wrestling and that can’t be a good thing when buyrates are flagging like they are currently.

— Finally, as if there wasn’t enough TNA news this week, the IWC was shocked earlier this week when a Twitter post from D’Angelo Dinero seemingly implied that he would be leaving TNA. Here’s the offending post….

My time has come, It’s time to move on. I’ve served well. Hope none has been disappointed; hope my hard work has been Applauded & Appreciated.

Immediately, a firestorm of speculation set off with many assuming that Dinero was on his way out of Orlando with others making the assumption that he was unhappy with how he was being used in Orlando and had asked for his release. The real story behind the tweet was far less seedy however as administrators on Dinero’s Elijah Express website stated that Dinero had graduated with a degree of high honors in criminal justice, which was what Dinero had referred to. Congratulations to Dinero on his degree and it’s always nice to see a wrestler that has something in his back pocket to fall back on should the wrestling business not work out as he hopes it might. There have been far too many stories of guys putting all of their eggs into the wrestling basket and being unable to handle it when that basket breaks, so good on Dinero for planning for his future outside of the ring.

Alright, that’s it for me again this week. I’ll be off next week running errands in the heart of Los Angeles, but the Bell to Bell will return in two weeks with brand new content. Check out DeMarco’s Wrestling 5 & 1 this weekend and be sure to follow Randle, Cook, Csonka, Sforcina, Byers, the other Cooke, Bazar, Ornelas and the rest of the awesome crew here at 411 wrestling. In the mean time and in between time, I’ll see you all back here next time for another edition of the Bell to Bell! Chocolate Giddy-uuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!

If you’re a fan of MMA, be sure to check out Nokaut.com for more of my work.